1. Field
The present disclosure relates to mobile devices. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to an intelligent mobile device that can adjust its security status based on contextual information such as the presence or absence of nearby mobile devices, geographic location, and temporal information.
2. Related Art
Recent developments of mobile computing technologies have allowed unprecedented integration of various functions into a single mobile device. For example, in addition to traditional voice communication, a smart-phone user can now perform financial transactions, download business related documents, and exchange data/video/audio files with other mobile device users. Many of the aforementioned applications deal with sensitive personal or corporate information; thus security issues related to mobile devices are increasingly a source of concern.
Compared with traditional stationary devices such as a desktop computer, the unique features of mobile devices present unique security challenges. For example, the compactness and the mobility of a mobile device make it vulnerable to theft and loss, which can create a serious security breach if the thief can access sensitive personal or corporate information stored in the stolen mobile device. In addition, commonly used authentication processes often require inputting, sometimes more than once, information such as login ID and password, and for a mobile device lacking a fully functional keyboard, such a process is inconvenient to the user. More over, a strictly enforced security enhancement procedure sometimes may hamper the performance of a mobile device due to the limited amount of memory and usable power therein.